Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Rights
Abstract
This article argues that the international right to health obligates governments to combat homophobia. Part One presents the powerful evidence that stigma, prejudice, and violence directed toward lesbian and gay people drastically endanger their physical and mental well-being. Part Two defends an expansive interpretation of the international right to health. Applying this interpretation, Part Three proposes that gay men and lesbians are entitled to demand that their governments to eliminate all public and much private discrimination against gay men and lesbians, and requires them to combat homophobia through education and other positive efforts. Acknowledging that this obligation is unlikely to be recognized, let alone enforced, in the near future, the article concludes with a strategic case for framing lesbian and gay rights as a health issue.
Publication Title
Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law
First Page
21
Last Page
46
Recommended Citation
Michael Boucai,
A Legal Remedy for Homophobia: Finding a Cure in the International Right to Health,
6
Geo. J. Gender & L.
21
(2005).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/journal_articles/69